Irvine’s city employees making an average of $143,691

For those disenchanted by reports of continued high unemployment, sequestration and the devaluation of your hard earned dollars, take heart, apparently it’s not all doom and gloom. According to a study conducted by the California Public Policy Center (CPPC), we in the media haven’t been entirely vigilant about telling the full story when it comes to some salaried workers–notably employees of the city of Irvine–who seem to be doing just fine.

According to the study, the average total compensation for full-time employees in 2012 was $143,691, far higher than the average given by the State Controller in 2011, which pegged the figure at $58,596. Note the “average total compensation” qualifier which accounts for direct benefits paid to employees as opposed to merely figuring base wages.

“It is vital for journalists, politicians and voters to fully understand the concept of total compensation,” said the study’s author Ed Ring. “Base wages and salaries are only part of what workers earn.”

In recent years, the CPPC also looked at the cities of Costa Mesa, Anaheim and San Jose and found in all cases the average total compensation to be between $140,000 and $150,000.